Rain Check
by SivanShemesh2
Summary: Chris delayed another date with Ezra, which leads to disaster. Chris/Ezra, slash. Complete


Title: Rain Check

Author: Sivan Shemesh

Beta: Helen

Disclaimer: Not mine, though I wish I could have Ezra… if only.

Warning: M/M slash. Angst.

Rate: G

Pairing: Chris/Ezra

Summary: Chris delayed another date with Ezra, which leads to disaster.

AU: Treasure Hunters - slash

A/N: Written for 50ficlets for LJ community. _Prompt#11: Rain_.

A/N2: This is a new AU.

--

**Roles:** Ezra – Con man and cheater to get information from outsiders about treasures.

Nathan – First aid, healer. Have connection in high places, can bring fast helicopter for immediate rescue and hospitals.

Vin - Indian Tracker; have a good eye and hearing. The winds are always with him.

Buck – Ladies's man; know how to reach to the right cave with a quite resourceful from the opposite kind.

JD Dunne – Computer guy who loves to use the digital to help the guys, using track devise to follow others.

Josiah – Preacher in his past. The stronger one, who helps the team to get out everything in their way, using his cooking skill when it's needs.

Chris – The leader of the Treasure Hunters. Lost his wife and son in cave in, buried alive.

--

"Chris, it's time," Ezra told him as he checked his watch. "We need to go."

"Not now, Ezra," Chris absently told him, walking away with Buck and Vin by his side.

Ezra sighed heavily and muttered into the cold air, "Not ever, it seems… maybe I should just quit trying…I'm offering my heart to you, Chris, but you just don't seem to want it... " He turned and walked in the opposite direction from which Chris had gone.

"Ezra…" Josiah called but was ignored. He had heard every word, and it pained him to see the young man's hurt.

Josiah approached Chris, who was interestedly poring over a diagram that Buck and Vin were explaining, determined to find out what was going on between Chris and Ezra.

"Chris?" Josiah called. "Can I talk to you for a minute; in private?"

Hearing the grim tone in Josiah's voice, Buck and Vin obeyed the significant look he shot them and moved casually out of earshot.

Chris frowned at the interruption, then looked puzzled when he noticed that Josiah was glaring at him. Glancing around the camp, he saw that Nathan and JD were also keeping their distance, cleaning items found earlier in the day with all-consuming concentration. Ezra was nowhere in sight.

"What's going on? And where's Ezra?" Chris asked with a note of concern in his voice that surprised the older man.

"He left," Josiah replied "I heard him talking, and he seemed pretty upset that you brushed off whatever appointment you two had. He said something about giving up on you two because you don't seem to want him."

Chris found the dust very interesting in this point and then he raised his head and, "I didn't mean to push him away. JD and Buck found something in the cave, and hopefully it will be something good that finance us for a long time. I just forgot about the date I'd made with Ezra."

"Again?" Josiah said, filling in the blank he could hear in his friend's sentence. "You can't keep taking him for granted, Chris. Ezra isn't just some object you can pick up when it's convenient to you. He cares about you, a lot, and I think you care about him just as much. He needs to know that. Or, if I'm wrong and you don't care, he needs to know that, too. Talk to him, Chris, before we all lose him for good."

Chris's jaw clenched, instinctively resisting this invasion of his privacy, but then he sighed and nodded. He hesitated, looking at Vin and Buck. "What about ..."

"I'll take care of the cave," Josiah said, nudging him. "Go. Find Ezra and take care of things with him."

"I will. Thanks, Josiah," Chris told him. "I will return as soon as I can."

"Take all the time that you need," Buck told him, wandering back over, his grin enough to tell them that he had heard every word even though he'd been pretending not to listen.

"We got this covered," Vin agreed.

--

Chris checked Ezra's phone, but got voicemail on the first ring, telling him that his partner had turned off the phone. The clear message in this act worried him. Josiah was right, he had upset Ezra far more than he'd realized.

There was no sign of Ezra anywhere in the search site, and Chris began to wonder if Ezra really had just packed up and left. Surely he wouldn't have gone without saying goodbye to anyone. Right?

Chris dialed Josiah's cell phone.

"_Sanchez_."

"Josiah, do you know Ezra's favorite place around this area? Somewhere he might have gone if he needed time alone to think?"

"_No, have you tried calling him?_"

"He's not picking up his phone."

"_Have you tried **cough** the Blue Lake **cough** area?_" Josiah replied, coughing because of the dust in the cave.

"Are you all right?" Chris asked with concern, feeling guilty for letting Josiah to do his job.

"_I will be, and don't try to change the subject. Go find him_."

"I will. Thanks, Josiah," he said, and closed his phone.

He drove toward the path to Blue Lake, hoping to find Ezra there and hoping even more that his lover would give him a chance to explain and make amends.

Once he got there, Ezra was nowhere to be seen and Chris's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Are you talking to me, Mr. Larabee?" Ezra asked, making Chris jump at the voice unexpectedly coming from a ledge just above his head, overlooking the tranquil blue water. Ezra was sitting on the ledge, staring down at him with dull eyes.

"I've been looking all over for you," Chris said, climbing up the large rocks Ezra had used for stepping stones and joining him. "I was afraid you'd gone."

"Would it matter if I had?" Ezra asked sadly. "You hardly ever notice I'm there, why should you care if I leave?"

"I do care. You're important to me," Chris replied, wincing at the doubt he could see in Ezra's green eyes. "Ezra, I'm sorry I blew off our date tonight. It's just that there was something…"

"There's always something, Mr. Larabee," Ezra interrupted, his tone resigned. "And there always will be. I've had enough excuses and I'm sorry if I asked you for more of a commitment than you were willing to give. I won't make that mistake again." With that Ezra stood and descended the rocks, walking out towards the lake.

"Ezra…" Chris called after him, and when he didn't get any respond he scrambled down to join him. Ezra did not move away, but he did not look at him either. Gently, Chris laid his hands on Ezra's shoulders and turned the other man to face him. "Ezra, please don't do this. "You didn't ask for too much. I guess I just took it for granted that you'd always be there whenever I was ready. I'm sorry for that. Please, give me another chance."

Ezra ducked his head, his inner struggle clear, but finally he shook his head and moved out of Chris's loose grasp. Moving away a few steps, he leaned down and picked up a small flat stone. For a few seconds, he walked the stone over his knuckles, observing the object's progress, then abruptly tossed it over to Chris. "My heart wants to say, yes. I want to give you another chance," he told Chris, "but I can't. You see, I realize now that am like this stone to you. Something you can pick up, play with whenever you feel inclined, and then toss aside when something else interests you more. I no longer wish to be tossed aside."

"No, you are not…" Chris replied but was cut off again.

"You've cancelled or forgotten every date we've made for the last three weeks, and _don't_ tell me you've been busy. I have been just as committed, and yet I made enough time for you. The fact is, you don't really _want_ to commit to me, and I don't want anything less," Ezra told him flatly.

"I… I…" Chris stammered, but Ezra held up a hand, not wanting to hear any false words of comfort or excuses from him.

"Please, Chris... just, don't," Ezra told him.

"Will you come back to the camp tonight?" Chris asked, gruffly, wanting to argue but knowing that nothing he could say would make things better at this moment.

Ezra nodded, ducking his head to hide the pain in his eyes. "I will. Our personal relationship may not have worked out, but I can hardly just walk away and leave our friends holding the proverbial bag. Besides, I want to know what Buck and Vin found in the cave today," Ezra told him. "I'll meet you back at the cave."

Squaring his shoulders and lifting his head high, Ezra walked away without a backward glance. As Chris stared after him, large drops of rain began to fall, blending in with the two teardrops sliding down his cheeks.

The End of this prompt.


End file.
